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2-Year-Old Texas Child’s Remains Found In Bucket Of Acid, Cops Say
Gerardo Zavala-Loredo and Monica Yvonne Dominguez have both been charged with abusing a human corpse and tampering with evidence following the death of their daughter, Rebecka.
A South Texas couple has been arrested after police say the remains of their 2-year-old daughter were found in a bucket containing acid.
Gerardo Zavala-Loredo and Monica Yvonne Dominguez are both charged with abusing a human corpse and evidence tampering. Dominguez also is charged with two child endangerment counts.
Zavala-Loredo in Webb County Jail on a $125,000 bond while Dominguez is jailed on a $175,000 bond.
Webb County District Attorney Isidro Alaniz says Dominguez told police two of her children were bathing unsupervised in their Laredo apartment about 1:30 p.m. Thursday when Rebecka Zavala drowned.
Dominguez then asked her husband to help dispose of her body, Alaniz said.
Alaniz says a neighbor called police, who found the child's remains in what appeared to be a five-gallon bucket of acid in a bedroom closet.
Dominguez has been arrested 17 times in the past, racking up 28 different charges, according to local news outlet KGNS; five of them were for injury of a child.
She was released on her most recent charge a year to the day prior to last week’s gruesome discovery, the outlet reports.
Jorge Dominguez, Monica Dominguez’s nephew, told the outlet that she would take her anger out on her child, but is shocked that she allegedly took her rage so far.
The Webb County District Attorney said they were dismayed by the case.
"As you can imagine, it's very difficult for all of us in law enforcement and for the first responders to be in a situation to come across a scene like we did yesterday," Alaniz said, according to ABC affiliate KRTK.
Laredo police confirmed to Oxygen.com that Rebecka Zavala was 2 at the time of her death, but would have turned 3 years old this past Sunday.
Child Protective Services said in a statement that they are investigating the case along with law enforcement, KGNS reports. The agency also said that they have taken custody of Rebecka’s siblings: two boys aged 12 and 4, and two girls aged 5 and 1.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
